Current Events > How the fuck are you supposed to cook for one?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Left overs or seal and store ingredients

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when i cook it lasts me as long as a week

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I eat the same thing every single day.

Breakfast - 3 egg omelette, 1/5 cup of cheese, 3 pieces of wheat toast (728cal)

Lunch- 4oz Chicken breast, 2 cups of vegetables, sweet potato (386cal)

Dinner - 300g 93% hamburger, 3 cups vegetables (681cal)

Snack - 2 Rice cakes (100cal)

1895 cal/day + almond milk.whey if im working out that day.

randy_123r posted...

kingdrake2 posted...

french toast is the worse thing ever invented ><.
has to be pancakes or waffles to be tolerated.

Ban this user.

And damn, maybe it's just my upbringing, but I never had a problem eating the same meal on consecutive days. It's interesting seeing people in this chat having a problem with it.

I don't mind eating the same meal consecutive days

It's eating the same meal multiple times a day that's annoying
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its difficult to do but i manage to use most of the ingredients i buy. if a recipe calls for 1/2cup of heavy cream and i'm forced to buy 1cup (nothing smaller) then i'll make another recipe that calls for heavy cream the same week.

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Blue_School posted...

I eat the same thing every single day.

Breakfast - 3 egg omelette, 1/5 cup of cheese, 3 pieces of wheat toast (728cal)

Lunch- 4oz Chicken breast, 2 cups of vegetables, sweet potato (386cal)

Dinner - 300g 93% hamburger, 3 cups vegetables (681cal)

Snack - 2 Rice cakes (100cal)

1895 cal/day + almond milk.whey if im working out that day.

That's good if that works for you but don't you ever get bored?

A McChickens is $1 and contains 400 calories.

It only costs $5.00 to eat for a whole day on McChickens.

They cover most food groups

>meat
Chicken

>veggies
Lettuce

>grains
Bun

>dairy
Mayo

Its a superfood

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I'm fine with eating really good puttanesca or curry rice four days in a row.

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randy_123r posted...

Ban this user.

And damn, maybe it's just my upbringing, but I never had a problem eating the same meal on consecutive days. It's interesting seeing people in this chat having a problem with it.

I think its a combination of upbringing and what level of cooking you were exposed to.

While I had a roughly middle class upbringing, it was 95% shitty food. Very few things I could stand to eat again the next day simply because most of the food was crap to begin with.

Nowadays, if Im eating the same food its either leftover pizza or its cereal, neither of which induce the same feelings.

Sadly even when I make an awesome stew or soup, i'll typically make enough to have a second bowl as leftovers and itll take me up to a week before Im ready to eat it again.

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gp1829 posted...

That's good if that works for you but don't you ever get bored?

These people are robots. Disgusting, filthy, metalback scum.

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SK8T3R215 posted...

A McChickens is $1 and contains 400 calories.

It only costs $5.00 to eat for a whole day on McChickens.

They cover most food groups

>meat
Chicken

>veggies
Lettuce

>grains
Bun

>dairy
Mayo

Its a superfood

Oh yeah. Super. Super-processed.

For what it's worth, with all the preservatives you could probably buy a years supply at one trip and leave them on the countertop at home and they'd be fine the whole year.

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gp1829 posted...

That's good if that works for you but don't you ever get bored?

I'll maybe switch out two of those meals a week but nope I never get bored, I quit thinking of food as entertainment/enjoyment and just use it as fuel. After the first couple weeks you forget about all the junk you use to eat.

I feel better when I stick to it and watching my weight go down and my strength go up is worth it.

Also for sure ill grab a small sweet at the gas station once a week or so. But its few and far between at this point.

Blue_School posted...

I quit thinking of food as entertainment/enjoyment and just use it as fuel

Inhuman. I literally cannot contain how offputting this kind of thinking is.

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Blue_School posted...

I quit thinking of food as entertainment/enjoyment and just use it as fuel.

If I ever get into this mindset, I know it's a warning sign of anhedonia and deep depression.

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The23rdMagus posted...

If I ever get into this mindset, I know it's a warning sign of anhedonia and deep depression.

Idk it was the opposite for me, I was really down for a while and would eat food because it was the only thing I enjoyed. Started getting fat...

Blue_School posted...

Idk it was the opposite for me, I was really down for a while and would eat food because it was the only thing I enjoyed. Started getting fat...

I've lost 20 pounds since January and I'm not pleased with how it happened. Food didn't please me, so I just plain didn't eat.

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The23rdMagus posted...

I've lost 20 pounds since January and I'm not pleased with how it happened. Food didn't please me, so I just plain didn't eat.

Yeah not eating at all is quite a bit different. Hopefully you're finding a way to enjoy it a bit again.

Blue_School posted...

Yeah not eating at all is quite a bit different. Hopefully you're finding a way to enjoy it a bit again.

Somewhat. The pandemic is making it difficult for me to go out and get fresh ingredients and still maintain my mental health, but I'm making do.

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Blue_School posted...

Idk it was the opposite for me, I was really down for a while and would eat food because it was the only thing I enjoyed. Started getting fat...

Thats depression. Denying yourself more varied sustenance isnt really a solution to that problem.

And mind you, dieting is 100% fine. But there is so much stuff you can be doing to vary up what you eat and actually let yourself enjoy it

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CommonJoe posted...

Thats depression. Denying yourself more varied sustenance isnt really a solution to that problem.

I've been in the best place mentally the past few months that I have been in the past few years. I really enjoy the discipline aspect of it and seeing the discipline get me closer to my goals.

CommonJoe posted...

And mind you, dieting is 100% fine. But there is so much stuff you can be doing to vary up what you eat and actually let yourself enjoy it

I switch up 2-3 meals a week as I learn how to prepare more meals. I've never cooked for myself so it's been a learning process and i'm sure I'll expand my meals but for now I'm perfectly content with it and it frees up so much time for other things i've neglected.

It's been really positive for me.

Blue_School posted...

I've been in the best place mentally the past few months that I have been in the past few years. I really enjoy the discipline aspect of it and seeing the discipline get me closer to my goals.

I think its the discipline and exercise thats doing that, not so much your food choices.

Blue_School posted...

I switch up 2-3 meals a week as I learn how to prepare more meals. I've never cooked for myself so it's been a learning process and i'm sure I'll expand my meals but for now I'm perfectly content with it and it frees up so much time for other things i've neglected.

I would focus on learning broad techniques and then stocking your pantry with a lot of different spices.

For instance a basic stew technique can be turned into not just a stew, but also a soup, or a rice dish, or even a taco base, all depending on how much you boil it down. And its fantastic to do as you can pack as much flavor as you want into it while still easily controling the calories and nutritional balance.

For that technique, you start off any protein youre having in a deep stainless steel skillet, and get it nice and brown on all sides, then remove it. Optionally remove any excess fat but leave some fat (or supplement with a healthy oil like extra virgin olive or avacado if it was lean) in the pan, then do your aromatics. These are things like alliums (onions, leeks, etc), bright root ir stalk veggies (carrots, celery, etc) and peppers (from sweeter bells to spicier ones). Sweat those off until they just go soft (optionally for onions do them until they have good browning), then you can go in with any dried or fresh spices you have (principally garlic, but literally anything you have. Mix and match what smells good together. Cumin and coriander, cardamom and paprika, literally any spice blend). Mix that around until fragrant, then go in with any wet vegetables you have (usually tomatoes), and/or your liquid of choice.

This liquid could be water, wine, a beer or other fermented drink (kombucha), a nice stock, or may be all of them or some mix. Go nuts.

You use that to deglaze the pan and scrape up any brown bits that stuck to the pan. Do that for a minute and then youre more or less good to go. Add your protein back in if you had one, add any fresh or dried herbs you have (bay leaf and tarragon is my favorite combo, but add a lot) and just let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour and then season to taste with salt and pepper.

At this stage you can also turn it into a number of things. Before adding liquid, you can add a portion of rice and let it toast with the veggies and protein for a minute and then add liquid to cover. Let it simmer and stir occasionally, adding liquid if it dries up until the rice is done.

For a soup just double or triple the amount of liquid you add.

If you want to really concentrate the flavor for say something like tacos, add less liquid and simmer until its basically gone and you have a super deep sauce coating everything.

Following this basic technique and just letting yourself be creative will be a lot more satisfying without having to sacrifice the diet youre on nor youre general discipline.

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Wow thanks for the write up, I've never thought about cooking in a macro sense its always just been step by step instruction with little variance.

Ill have to save and reread it a few times to kinda remember the order and Ill give a few things some tries next time I pick some ingredients up.

Blue_School posted...

Wow thanks for the write up, I've never thought about cooking in a macro sense its always just been step by step instruction with little variance.

Ill have to save and reread it a few times to kinda remember the order and Ill give a few things some tries next time I pick some ingredients up.

Yep once you pick up the technique its second nature, and it'll be very easy to riff on it.

My favorite stew is a Spanish dish called Patatas a la Riojana and with my additions to it it is soul soothing. Literally it is the most satisfying thing you'll ever eat.

Follow this video:

https://youtu.be/i8p5UtV4GqY

Except fire roast the bell pepper (or use jarred roasted ones), skip the chile if you dont like it spicy (i dont), add about half as much chili powder as you do smoked paprika; then before you add the water, mix in a tablespoon of Better than Bouillion pork stock (or roasted garlic but pork is better) and add not only about 3x the bay and thyme that he adds, but also throw in a handful of chopped tarragon.

And very importantly, and I recommend this for any stew honestly, let it rest when its done simmering instead of serving it piping hot. It is soo, so, SOOO much better lukewarm. Trust me.

The hard Spanish style chorizo can be hard to find, but in most places (especially in the southern US if thats where youre located) will have the mexican style chorizo and that can work as well, but you'll brown it in the pot first before following the video and add a bit more of the paprika and chili powder to compensate.

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